When you reach for an absorbent sock to contain spilled or leaking fluid, do you stop to think about the sock’s color? You should!

Color coding doesn’t just look nice. It has a serious purpose: to help workers respond to a spill quickly and clean it up safely. Each color indicates the sock’s purpose and serves as a safety precaution for workers in the spill area.

Benefits of color coding
Color coding offers several advantages. First, the sock color informs workers at a glance about the spill type — alerting them to steer clear of dangerous spills if they do not have the right safety equipment. Second, color coding can help you train new employees about spills and which socks they’ll need to clean up different substances. Finally, the color coding system saves you money. Using the wrong sock for a spill is a waste of resources, but when the color clearly indicates the sock’s purpose, mistakes are less likely to happen.

Color coding systems vary between businesses, but AbsorbentsOnline has fine-tuned a smart, easy-to-understand coding system for chemical socks.

Hazmat yellow
Yellow indicates a chemical spill absorbent sock for aggressive and non-aggressive fluids. Although a yellow sock is typically used to contain acids and bases, you can also use it to contain unknown liquids. The bright yellow color makes a hazmat chemical absorbent sock stand out from its surroundings, warning employees to avoid coming into contact with the sock unless they have the proper equipment.

Oil-only white
White socks are used to absorb oil-based fluids (hydrocarbons). They repel water as well, and will not sink even when saturated with oil. Use oil-only absorbent socks to dike and absorb spilled oils.

Universal grey
Grey socks indicate general-purpose use. They are the best choice for industrial applications in containing non-aggressive fluids. The grey color is designed to hide dirt and blend in with surroundings, and the socks are commonly molded around leaky equipment and machinery. The grey universal absorbent sock indicates to workers that the absorbed fluids are not dangerous to handle.

Because the absorbent socks are non-biodegradable, you can wring them out and reuse them, which saves you additional money on recovered spilled fluids and on the socks themselves.

If you don’t have a color-coding system for your own facility, take advantage of AbsorbentsOnline’s system for decoding the purpose of absorbent socks. Your employees — and your wallet — will be better off for it.

Ah, yes — the good old-fashioned shop rag. They’re a convenient way to clean up incidental spills and prevent slip-and-fall injuries, reusing them can help your business’s sustainability efforts, and they never go out of style!

But cloth rags can only absorb a limited amount of spilled liquid. In a shop or garage where minor spills and leaks are frequent, you may find yourself going through a lot of rags quickly.

There’s a better way
If you’re looking for a longer lasting and more efficient alternative spill cleanup product, you should consider absorbent pads and rolls.

Pads and rolls are available as a universal absorbent to absorb any liquid (gray), oil-only to absorb hydrocarbon fluids only (white), and hazmat for aggressive fluids (yellow). The patented layers are designed for all work areas and can absorb water, greases, oils, and other mechanical fluids.

Their durable construction makes the pads and rolls less likely to fall apart or tear. And best of all, they’re easily disposable!

But what about the cost?
At first glance, the shop rags seem more cost-effective, simply because they often cost less than the absorbent pads and rolls. But consider the following:

Rags must be laundered or disposed of after each use.

Rags tear and fall apart with use.

You may have different sizes of rags, and thus need more for a single cleanup.

It’s a good idea to have rags on hand for minor cleanup jobs. But with the help of absorbent pads with backing, you’ll find yourself wiping up incidental spills a lot less frequently — and saving money in the long run.

Want to learn more about spill-cleanup products? AbsorbentsOnline can help. Contact Travis Zdrazil at travis@absorbentsonline.com or (800) 869-9633.

Did You Know?Several of AbsorbentsOnline’s absorbent pad and roll products are on sale for a limited time! Compare our pad and roll to the same products sold elsewhere. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at our low prices!